imperial_projectfandomcom-20200214-history
The Sakurazuka
"Fifteen men buried under the Cherry Tree" Sakurazuka family motto The first Lord Sakurazuka was a mysterious assassin who lived near what would be the Imperial Capital, the leader of a ninja clan who was hired by local Tarizoku lords and Yunjin officers to dispatch of “threats”. When the Mikado’s armies walked northward, Sakurazuka was of course hired by the Tarizoku to assassinate the Mikado and his officers, but as the Raven and the Badger were acting as “protector”, most attempts by the lower ranked assassins of the Sakurazuka were complete failure. As the lord himself decided to take action, aided by ancient spirits and powerful magics, he met with the Mikado himself and was dazed by his beauty, charisma and power and immediately swore allegiance to him. The ninja clan quickly began serving the Empire, teaching some of their techniques to the infiltration specialists in the Mikado’s army while they learned the secrets of anatomy and biology from the Onmyou. From that point onward, the name and title Sakurazuka was associated with a samurai family, even though they were still of ninja blood. As peace set within the Empire, the Sakurazuka ninja clan began serving the Imperial Magistracy more and more while the “common samurai” that came out of the clan served in the Imperial Legions normally. While this groups of soldiers grew fast, the clan remained mainly focused on its ancient secrets, with anyone being able to use magic being raised in the mystical arts of the ninja. This still made the Sakurazuka one of the most powerful samurai families in the 7th century, when the Taika and Miyamoto decided that they were to be seen as somewhat equal to the Sons of Heaven, leading to the Great Samurai Uprising. Not to be outdone, the Sakurazuka deployed their forces and were embroiled in the conflict, which more or less ended with a victory for them, one of their general being named the first Shogun. While they were not named Shogun quite as much as the other two great families after this, they always remained important in the Empire due to their near monopoly on the ninja arts that much of the Bakufu have come to rely on. The Sakurazuka family The status of the Sakurazuka is unusual at best. While they are true Imperial vassal, with the Hidden Village of the Cherry Trees smack in the middle of Imperial controlled territory north of the Capital, most of their official lands encompass a region that officially belong to the Northern Horse. This form of “dual citizenship” is common for a few large samurai families, but usually their controlled territory is usually continuous, not split by rather large swaths of land. In the end, the Hidden Village of Cherry Trees (which is not quite hidden, and a rather large vacationing spot for influential Imperial dignitaries) remains the center of activities of the Sakurazuka while their “lands” are managed by local vassals, which pay homage to the Horse. These lands are mainly used for ranching cattle and military grade horse, with a few minor industries popping along rivers, producing a large amount of the speciality glue used by the Empire. The “official” military strength of the Sakurazuka is fairly limited, keeping a rather significant house guard under arms but a limited army in place. Most forces are based around typical Horse-style light cavalry supporting Wolf-style heavy cavalry wedges, with large groups of samurai archers making up the flanks. These formations have served them well over the years in their conflict with the Bears as vassal of the Horse, who then pays homage to the Wolf, and against local rebellions. But, as they are technically a ninja clan, the actual strength of the Sakurazuka lies in their mystical shadow warriors, which specialize in assassination, infiltration and disruption of enemy communication lines. Many sieges were ended in a night as a group of juunin broke into a castle and opened the gates from the inside after killing all the sentries, and the Sakurazuka are more than glad to keep their old “mercenary” ways, as long as they do not go against the Mikado or the Bakufu. In the end, the Sakurazuka are at their most powerful when they control the bakufu, with one of their own sitting as Shogun, controlling the Imperial Legion. Lordship and territory The title of Sakurazuka is inherited not by the eldest descendant of the current Sakurazuka, but by the ninja who has achieved the most at the time of the death of the previous title holder. There is, in the end, no real “Sakurazuka” family, even though all those who descend from a title holder end up with that family name, even when they have no blood ties between each other. After one generation, it is usually good practice to change your name to another “local” name as to not confuse people. While the ultimate honor for a Sakurazuka is to become one of the ninjas, military endeavour remain the main exit for young members of the family. With the clan resources, they are able to enter the best dojos and hire the best teachers. Another good prospect for a young Sakurazuka is to join the Magistracy, especially the Shinsengumi, which enjoy having skilled infiltrators in their ranks. Those who display superior physical abilities are often inducted into the ninja branch of the clan to become non-mystical ninjas, but their career choice afterwards usually drive them to either military service or magistracy if they are not amongst “the best of the best”. Any person born in Sakurazuka territory with the ability to use magic is rapidly drafted into the clan, brought up to samurai status and then trained into the mystical arts of the ninja. Religious careers are not shunned by the Sakurazuka, but few take up the cloth intentionally. Rivals and enemies The Sakurazuka have very few friends, but they have managed over the years to keep their list of enemies fairly short. They are often in competition with the Miyamoto and Taika family for the role of Shogun and have often shown their distaste for both other groups over the years, but they would much rather fight the enemies of the Empire rather than their colleagues. The Bear has a serious dislike for the ninja clan, partly due to their association with the Horse and Wolf, but also due to their actions, which most members of the Ooguma find rather dishonorable. Category:Great Families Category:Tarigani Category:Yunjin Category:Imperial